Malodorous smells exist in many environments. Such odors are created in industrial, commercial, and residential environments. In industrial environments, the odors are often created by the practicing of processes involving the use of pungent chemicals. In commercial and residential environments malodorous smells can be generated by, for example, cigarette smoking.
Waste product odors can exist in all environments. Trash receptacles are, typically, fraught with odors from buteric acid, ammonia, mercaptain, and hydrogen sulfide.
Certainly, attempts have been made to eliminate or minimize the effects of such odors. One offered solution has been to provide a cartridge having a solid pellet carried therein. The cartridge can be mounted at an appropriate location in a waste basket, garbage can, dumpster, or even a water closet. As the pellet functions to deodorize the area where it has been placed, the pellet sublimes. As sublimation occurs, the pellet becomes depleted.
In some devices known in the prior art, a pellet can be replaced. Such replacement can, typically, be effected only after complete depletion of a pellet, however, in view of the solid nature of the pellet and the limited space available in the carrying cartridge for pellet reception. Consequently, there is, typically, a period of time when no deodorizer is in the cartridge, and odor regeneration occurs during that interim.
In other attempted solutions, liquid agents have been employed. When using a liquid or other fluid agent, however, the cartridge is expendable, and, once the agent becomes depleted, the cartridge is discarded. Again, therefore, there is a period of time, typically, when elimination of odors does not occur, and during which odor regeneration proceeds.
A number of types of agents for odor treatment are utilized. Broadly, such agents fall into two categories. These include neutralizers and maskers. The latter category is one wherein an attractive odor is disbursed throughout the air to "supersede" the malodorous smell sought to be eliminated. While devices employing such agents, in some instances, improve the situation, there is, typically, an undertone of the repulsive smell. Even when the masking agent is of a nature to generate a counter-odor sufficiently strong so that an extremely faint remnant of the repulsive odor exists, or no remnant of the repulsive odor exists, the smell generated by the agent can become overpowering and unacceptable in itself.
Odor neutralizing agents, on the other hand, function to interact with the obnoxious odors and chemically neutralize them. Currently, there is only one product on the market, of which Applicant is aware, that is a non-toxic liquid having no adverse effects on a handler of the liquid, even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is non-flammable, is non-explosive, is non-corrosive, and functions well to neutralize buteric acid, ammonia, mercaptain, and hydrogen sulfide smells. That product is a liquid agent marketed under the trademark "X-O" by the X-O Corporation of Dallas, Tex.
Even with this particular agent, however, problems as articulated heretofore exist. That is, there is no completely adequate delivery system for disbursing the agent so that it can optimally function to accomplish its intended goals.
The present invention includes improved apparatus for delivering such an agent to neutralize malodorous smells. It functions to overcome problems and incorporate desired characteristics dictated by the prior art.